The present invention relates generally to the field of dispensing systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to the construction and use of dispensing systems which provide controlled access to medical inventories stored therein.
In large medical facilities, inventories of medical supplies are normally held in centralized storage locations or pharmacies which are often far removed from the patients. To facilitate delivery of pharmaceuticals to the patients, a variety of dispensing systems have been proposed which are maintained in remote areas of the medical facility, closer to the patients. For example, several dispensing systems have been proposed which employ a cart or cabinet which is located in a patient wing or treatment area of the facility. These dispensing systems contain medical supplies and pharmaceuticals typically used in that part of the facility.
Of particular interest to the present invention are remote dispensing stations which dispense pharmaceuticals and other items which require close monitoring and control. A variety of schemes have been proposed for providing secured access to pharmaceuticals that are held within such dispensing stations, including locking the pharmaceuticals within carts or by allowing access to only one item at a time, commonly referred to as "single dose dispensing."
One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,875 titled "Medication Dispenser Station." This system comprises a multiple-drawer cabinet for holding pharmaceuticals, with each drawer containing a covered, multiple-compartment carousel. Access to each drawer and each carousel compartment is controlled to allow access to the contents after a predetermined code or other information has been entered into a controller. Another similar system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,764 titled "System for Dispensing Drugs in Health Care Institutions." This dispensing system involves a computer system connected to a number of remote medication dispensers. The computer system includes software for, among other things, controlling access to the medications, identifying potentially dangerous drug interactions, and assisting with inventory control. The remote medication dispensers comprise a number of cabinets, with each cabinet holding a number of unit dose medication packages.
Although such systems have found some acceptance in the industry, many of these systems fail to recognize several important issues which should be addressed in today's competitive health care industry. For example, the dispensing system (while still providing adequate security) should be able to provide convenient access to large inventories of items. In addition, the dispensing system should make efficient use of the cabinet space. Further, the dispensing system should be able to maintain an accurate accounting of the items removed. In this way, a caregiver may be afforded easy access to the items and be assured that adequate levels of a wide variety of pharmaceuticals will be available. At the same time, the health care facility will be able to carefully control how its drugs are dispensed. It also would be desirable if such a system allowed for pharmaceuticals to be dispensed in single doses or in single item quantities. In one particular aspect, it would be desirable if the dispensing system were to allow access to only specific numbers and types of items selected by the caregiver. In another aspect, it would be desirable if such a dispensing system were able to control access based at least in part on user identification and/or patient identification which is entered by the caregiver.